Thank you, Thank You, Thank You

[sea-explorer]

We are an English family of four, living in the UK, and I have recently made a last minute booking on a Baltic Cruise, leaving home next Saturday, 25th August.

 

I have been trying to do some online research re making plans for shore excursions and came to the conclusion we would have no option but to take one of the ships shore excursions in St. Petersburg. That is of course, until I somehow magically blundered in to this site. Here I learned about Red October, Denrus & Alla. Alas, it seemed like a closed book to me however as I was not based in the US. Until that is, I discovered I may be able to contact them direct through their Russian website.

 

So sometime after midnight on Friday, I decided to give it a shot, & sent off a few request emails.

 

By Saturday evening I had received a reply & outline itinery from Red October which covered my request & more, and by lunchtime today I received final confirmation, including tour vouchers in case the tickets do not arrive in time. Wonderful!!!! I am absolutely ecstatic and can't thank the contributors here enough.

 

Yes, the tour will cost about $80 more than the ships full day excursion as we are only a small group, but for that we get the personal service, an extended highlights tour an extra visit & hydrofoil .......well worth it.:)

 

I'm sure this will be the highlight of our cruise. My family know absolutley nothing about this & i do not intend to tell them until I am ushering them off the ship at St. Petersburg.

 

Just one more question for all you experienced cruisers out there. What would be a reasonable tip to give to the driver and guide, & what is their preferred currency. I can obtain dollars if you think these are preferable.

 

Thank you one & all again. I'm thrilled.:)

[dog]

That's great! Glad you found this site in time.

You will be sailing two weeks before we do and using the same company.

I hope all goes well.

Please let us know about your experiences when you return.

 

dog

[dbh62ark]

sparky1664, welcome to CruiseCritic. I'm glad you found the information that you need to make your trip extra special and hope you have a great time.

 

Donna

[skandls]

After our private tour we tipped about 12% of the cost of the tour divided 30% to the driver and 70% to the tour guide.

 

You can easily get dollars on board your ship.

[Andrew9999]

After our private tour we tipped about 12% of the cost of the tour divided 30% to the driver and 70% to the tour guide.

 

You can easily get dollars on board your ship.

 

I think we tipped around 10% split as suggested above. There were 9 on our tour.

 

We were told by Denrus that they would be very happy with either dollars or Rubles. I'm sure the same will apply to Red October. This worked well for me as I had Rubles left over so used these for the tip rather than change them back into GBP or dollars (I live in the UK).

 

If you are looking for a quick, cheap lunch with a pleasant local atmosphere (not many tourists), I recommend Stolle. Search my posts for more details.

 

We arrived back on 17 August and it was great. Have a great trip!

 

Andrew.

[2irisheyes]

We are also from UK and had a private tour for the two of us in June with Anastasia. We tipped approx 10% with similar split. When purchasing some foreign currency from Marks & Spencer (one of the larger ones) I asked about Rubles. Although they don't normally stock them, they just happened to have £50 worth that had been sold back to them so I bought them and used some for postcards, subway tickets, snacks etc. The amount left was included in the tip. I don't feel happy having no local currency especially when I can't speak the language. I too gained many tips from this site not just for SPB but for the other ports of call also. Have a great trip.

[sea-explorer]

Again, thank you, you're all brilliant. We British are not too hot on tips, well, I'm not anyway, I suppose I'd better just speak for myself & not the rest of the nation, otherwise I will be in trouble.

 

I certainly will let you know how it goes. I've got currency now including rubles and dollars, so I''l be able to use either depending on what I have left. I agree, I'd be nervous about visiting a country without even a little of their currency.

 

Not long to go now. :)

[pattyj 1204]

Sparky Welcome on Board, Glad others were there to help. Wishing you calm seas and fun. We are cruising next Aug and are looking forward to seeing St.Petersburg. So happy that you could set up a big big surprise for your family, isn't it fun to do that??

[tony@stanton19.freeserve.]

Again, thank you, you're all brilliant. We British are not too hot on tips, well, I'm not anyway, I suppose I'd better just speak for myself & not the rest of the nation, otherwise I will be in trouble.

 

:)

 

Welcome to the boards, we found lots of useful information just like you.

 

I had the same dilemma re the tips. It's not just a Brit thing, it's a European thing. We don't have a tipping culture in the same way as is found in the US.

We booked a tour with Alla and it was superb, definitely the way to go. Yes it was marginally more expensive than the ship (because there were only three of us on the second day) but far superior service and well worth the money too.

 

We tipped similarly to what has been mentioned and considering the service we got, we were happy to do so. I felt that as we were the only ones in the party that it would be unfair on the guide and driver to not tip especially when they had looked after us so well.

 

If you read other threads on the subject, you will find that it is not compulsory at all but although it seemed a large amount to hand over, when you break it down to per person per day, it's doesn't seem that much.

 

(Mind you I wish had that sort of extra income every day that I worked, especially when you hear what the average monthly salary is)

 

You will love it I just hope you have as good an experience as ours.

[Mike073]

We also tipped about 10% split 30/70 or so. Keep in mind they prefer Euros first, but are happy with US Dollars if the bills are in good condition and free from any markings. Of course rubles are OK, but we chose not to get any as they are unusable anywhere else and had no problems.

 

We also paid for their lunch each day.

[GuideDiva]

 

 

If you read other threads on the subject, you will find that it is not compulsory at all but although it seemed a large amount to hand over, when you break it down to per person per day, it's doesn't seem that much.

 

(Mind you I wish had that sort of extra income every day that I worked, especially when you hear what the average monthly salary is)

 

I might be biased on this issue but consider that a guide only has work for 4 months and despite the reputation of low salaries, St Petersburg is a more expensive city than most people believe. Depending on the way it is judged, it is either 8th, 12th or 14th most expensive city in the world. Moscow is most expensive on all lists. I've visited several European countries and found them lower in costs for food, hotels, services and products. Cars here are twice what they cost in Germany or Italy for the same model. My friends living in the US report some of the lowest prices for products and food but still many people need tips to survive there. To buy even a basic apartment, without any luxuries, appliances or fixtures, me must pay over $3,000 per square meter of space. This means the lowest priced un-restored apartments you will see in a small 1 bedroom apartment form will cost $150,000 and up. A new Toyota compact car is $50,000.

 

On the other hand, guides here are, if i might brag, very highly educated, many of your guides have PhD's in history or art, all have some university degree as a basic requirement plus additional course on each museum and palace before taking exams for licenses. I had two University degrees, Masters and I am typical, not unique. That is why when you have a question about anything you see or a topic you are interested in, your guide will know the answer and can give an accurate response. Guides have higher education requirements than physicians or lawyers here so it is a profession taken seriously.

 

I do not give advice on tipping but I wanted to offer some perspective on the job of a guide and the current living situation here.

[tony@stanton19.freeserve.]

I might be biased on this issue but consider that a guide only has work for 4 months and despite the reputation of low salaries, St Petersburg is a more expensive city than most people believe. Depending on the way it is judged, it is either 8th, 12th or 14th most expensive city in the world. Moscow is most expensive on all lists. I've visited several European countries and found them lower in costs for food, hotels, services and products. Cars here are twice what they cost in Germany or Italy for the same model. My friends living in the US report some of the lowest prices for products and food but still many people need tips to survive there. To buy even a basic apartment, without any luxuries, appliances or fixtures, me must pay over $3,000 per square meter of space. This means the lowest priced un-restored apartments you will see in a small 1 bedroom apartment form will cost $150,000 and up. A new Toyota compact car is $50,000.

 

On the other hand, guides here are, if i might brag, very highly educated, many of your guides have PhD's in history or art, all have some university degree as a basic requirement plus additional course on each museum and palace before taking exams for licenses. I had two University degrees, Masters and I am typical, not unique. That is why when you have a question about anything you see or a topic you are interested in, your guide will know the answer and can give an accurate response. Guides have higher education requirements than physicians or lawyers here so it is a profession taken seriously.

 

I do not give advice on tipping but I wanted to offer some perspective on the job of a guide and the current living situation here.

 

I accept everything you say for all the reasons you give, which is why we were happy to tip for the excellent service that we received.

Our guide was exactly as you describe, a university lecturer in Russian literature, who works very long hours during a limited season. She was extremely knowledgeable , pleasant and above all professional. She did everything she could to make our brief stay in St Petersburg a memorable experience. By the way, she was also called Elenya "Helen" and we booked through Alla.

I get the impression that tour guiding in Russia is a very professional operation:D

 

 

I only wish we had followed your advice given in another thread and brought a gift from Manchester, especially as Manchester is twinned with St Petersburg. A personal gift like that would have been a really nice token of appreciation (of course in addition to a cash tip)

[sulin]

Sparky, you lucky devil, you found this site before you booked. I found it after booking but the information has been terrific and I'll certainly use it next time!

 

We're also doing the Baltic cruise. I had already booked excursions. We did opt for the car in St. Petersburg, so we'll get a lot done. Are we on the same cruise? We leave Harwich on Aug. 29 on Jewel of the Seas.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your wealth of knowledge and your willingness to share it with others. :)

[BaldHeadIslandlady]

I find this site invaluable when it comes to cruising advice, and have forwarded it to our TA. She had booked us on a very tight connection after the ship docked. She thought I was being nervous but thought better of it after reading the hundred or so replies stating that we would probably not make a 9 AM international flight if the ship docked at 5 AM.

As to the tipping issue, when in doubt tip well if the service has been good, you will feel better for it and the extra amount will make a big difference to the tour guide. I am also thankful to find out about the personal gift and will probably be bringing a small tin or 2 of our famous Old Salem Moravian cookies. for the DenRus guide. We are cruising on 8/30 and have to go pack now. bye. if you are on the Star Princess, see you then, a large group is meeting on 8/31 at noon, follow the roll call threads to find out where.

[sea-explorer]

Yes Sulin, I do feel really lucky, especially as it was very much a lst minute booking, (I didn't book until 3rd August) :)

 

We sail on the Lirica from Copenhagen on 26th.

 

A British gift, now that's a brilliant idea!

 

Quick, quick, I've only got tomorrow...any suggestions?